There is much confusion between laptop and tablet, which is better, and which one we should take. Many people also think they both perform the same function; only the difference is their size.
Key Takeaways
- Laptops are portable computers featuring a clamshell design with a built-in keyboard, touchpad, and display, suitable for productivity tasks, entertainment, and more.
- Tablets are lightweight, slim devices with touch-sensitive screens optimized for portability and ease of use, used for media consumption, browsing, and basic tasks.
- Both laptops and tablets are portable computing devices, but laptops offer more powerful hardware and extensive functionality, while tablets prioritize portability and touchscreen capabilities.
Laptop vs Tablet
Laptop is a portable notebook computer that is suitable for use while traveling. It is a battery or AC-powered personal computer that is smaller than a briefcase. Tablet or a tablet computer is a mobile device with a touchscreen display and a rechargeable battery in a thin and flat package.
The laptop is designed in such a way that the user can easily use it while travelling. It is a laptop computer which is also called a notebook computer.
It works on battery, which is why it is easy to transport and conveniently used when the users are in an aeroplane, train, in an office, in libraries, and at meetings.
A tablet is a mobile device with a touchscreen display and a rechargeable battery in a single flat screen, much thinner than a laptop screen. It is also straightforward to carry around as compared to a laptop.
It differs from a typical notebook computer with an LCD screen where users can write using a finger or swipe action.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Laptop | Tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A laptop is a notebook computer that is designed in such a way that the user can use it easily while travelling. | The tablet is also a notebook computing device but is designed as a mobile device with a touchscreen display. |
| Function | The laptop has a keyboard for writing and scrolling the webpage, and It also has a trackpad mouse in it. | The tablet has a physical keyboard but has a touchscreen display. The users can use their fingers to write and scroll the webpage. |
| Size and weight | The laptop is thicker and heavier in weight than a typical tablet. | The tablet is easy to carry than a laptop because of its thinner and lesser weight. |
| Features | Many laptops come with DVD features, but it is not a must-have feature nowadays. | This application is absent on a tablet. |
| Easy and flexible | Laptops are very easy and flexible, and users who know the computer can comfortably use the laptop and do the work. | Users sometimes find the tablet challenging, especially while writing a document. |
| Cost | A laptop has many features and wide technology, so the cost of the laptop is higher. | Tablets don’t cost too high as laptops do. |
| Battery life | The laptop does not have a longer battery life because it also comes with multiple battery cells that a user can detach. | Tablet has longer battery life than a laptop because it doesn’t have a higher power consumption of components. |
| Upgrade | A laptop can be upgraded in terms of hardware device; specific RAM in the laptop allows it to upgrade. | Tablet hardware cannot be upgraded; you need to buy a new one for an upgrade. |
What is Laptop?
A laptop is a portable computer with a clamshell; on one side, the alphabetic keyboard faces the lower side opposite the screen. It has an LCD or LED screen, and the clamshell is opened for PC use.
It is easily folded for travelling and thus is suitable for mobile use.
The word “lap” of the laptop itself means it was considered to be placed in the user’s lap. As time passed, laptops have been used in various work like education, playing games, learning computers, web browsing, etc.
It includes all the desktop computer capabilities, a counting display screen, speakers, a keyboard, data storage, a disc drive with an operating system, and memory in a single unit. Today modern computers also have webcams and microphones.
Many laptops included I/O ports and USB ports, which allowed the mouse and alphabetical laptops to connect with the laptop. It also provides a wireless networking adapter so that the user does not face problems connecting the wire from the laptop and using the internet.
What is Tablet?
A tablet computer is a mobile device with a mobile operating device and a touchscreen display with a rechargeable battery. It lacks some input and output abilities which other computers have.
The modern tablet has smartphone features that may not support cellular data networks.
The touchscreen display of tablets is operated by a user’s finger or digital pen instead of a mouse or keyboard, which all typical PC has. It accepts the text and other inputs through a virtual keyboard that appears on the screen, but to make up for that, tablets can be connected to physical keyboards with USB or Bluetooth.
A tablet weighs much less than a laptop, and while some tablets also provide fold-out keyboards, others, like Motorola Xoom and Apple iPad, only offer touchscreen input.
In modern times, tablets are designed to support human fingers for work, unlike when the user used light pens. It supports multi-touch input, allowing a user to work with many fingers, just like zooming in and out for images.
Main Differences Between Laptop and Tablet
- Both laptops and tablets are computers and smaller in size, which is easy to carry. However, the laptop has all the features of computers but for tablet features and options.
- The laptop also provides DVD or CD insert features, but the tablet does not provide any such feature.
- A laptop is a computer device that uses a battery or AC power to operate the computer. However, the tablet is also a computer device with a mobile operating system.
- Both tablets and laptops have long battery life, but the laptop battery life is lesser than tablets.
- A laptop battery can be detachable or non-detachable, but a tablet is non-detachable.
- Some tablets have a slim slot feature, but the laptop does not provide such features.
- https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/78009/To_take_or_not_to_take.pdf?sequence=5
- https://userpages.umbc.edu/~norcio/papers/2008/Ozok-CSLTP-IJHCI/Ozok-CSLTP-IJHCI.doc
Last Updated : 11 June, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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